Game 1 was fairly uneventful. I'm not sure a whole lot happened in the entirety of the first match It did begin to billow momentum into me, though. My opening had was basic ok. Early in the day I'd usually try to keep hands with forces and cantrips, because without byes you never know what you're going to come across. I wound up sticking an unanswered t2 stoneforge mysetic and backed it up by triggering into a batterskull. He tried and failed to kill it t3. Game ended pretty quickly with me at 23 life. Game two I kept a subpar hand and had subpar results. Sadly, tey included a tight loss by snapcaster beats. G3 Was more of a game, but still uneventful. The only reason I think I realized that my opponent was on counterbalance was it hit the field quite unexpectedlyecauseg3. He got a couple of lucky flips. Sadly for him, his dwindling life encouraged me to burn a spell snare on a late game baleful strix with my board filled to the brim with creatures bearing weapons. The oddest thing happened. He triggered counterbalance and cringed. There was a pernicious deed on top of the library. He cast pyroblast targeting my snare, and then extended his hand. He was off from casting and triggering the deed by one mana...if I let it resolve.

1-0

Round 2: Grixis Control 2-0 Win

Round two still felt pretty uneventful. I am not entirely sure if I was completely zoned in or just played tightly and correctly for the most part. I never left myself exposed in two games. Game one ended with me ulting teferi and my opponent scooping before I brainstored with Jace. Game two ended with beats from a True Name carrying batterskull and jitte and SOFI.

2-0

Round 3: Grixis Control 0-2 Loss

It was an interesting game. My opponent definitely seemed experienced with his deck choice. Didn't hurt that it carried Beta duals and was otherwise all foiled. He played g1 as though he k new what I was going to do before I did. I kept sticking threats he had mb answers for, such as edicts and k commands...almost like he was playing grixis control? Oh, well. I go to the sb and expect that g2 should go better. I made a critical error in sequencing which threat to stick when. I should have played a TNN, and had instead held open mana to stick a vclique. It was a mistake that cost me g2 and the match. Oops.

2-1

Round 4: Jodi Kieth 12 Post 2-0 Win

Oh dear me, the Candelabra deck? Yes, that one. There was a surprisingly large amount of 12 post based decks in the room that day, in general. Game one was a little tense. I got hit by an early Ulamog that needed to be dealt with, but in general I used deck manipulation from Brainstorms and Ponders to select the correct cards at the correct times, and kept an actually fairly aggressive tempo. I am pretty sure that was correct and not unnecessarily reckless. I usually run a MUDpost deck, and I know the more turns you allow to go by, the less likely you are to win the game vs 12 post. I finally locked him under a jace and ulted for the win. Game 2 wasn't a game. I stuck a back to basics when he tapped out for a dynamo or monolith into a trinisphere. He never recovered and I won again through planeswalker ult.

3-1

Round 5: Abzan Mavericks 2-0 Win

My opponent was canny in disguising his use of abzan g1 through fetching the correct lands to mask it. I never let him stick a thing at all throughout g1. I swordsed his t1 birds, spell snared his t2 stoneforge I stuck my own t3 SFM, and t4 snap sworsed his play. I wound up buryin him under a mountain of pressure. Game 2 was basically more of the same. He hit a surprise seize. I don't particualrly remember what my hand was, but it wasn't great. Then again, when you're not running vs a combo deck, it is more important to keep a hand that has answers and develops well than a hand that stops a cascade of powerful, combo plays. This game ennded under s firm lock of card advantage and TNNs and I believe I wound up ulting Jace from the final life totals.

4-1

Round 6: Steel Stompy 2-1 Win

I'll be honest, I always root for colorless decks, unless they're my opponent. In this case, I had the same odd choice I wound up with during day one: do I counter the t1 Chalice on the draw. Twice. All three games were super close. From the lifetotals, one would think it was back and forth, but in each case except the third game, I felt that dominance was established early and never overcome. It was just inevitability being fought off hard each time. G1 I thinkI waylaid him, because I masked myelf as being a miracles deck until I put my foot on the gas and turned the corner with a TNN with a jitte. G2 I kept a subpar hand and died predictably from inevitability of pressure and swarm. G3 was the best of the set. I always knew what he was doing, and he had gotten a feel for what I was up to. That said, there was a great sequencing for the turning of the corner. He had two active ravagers in play. There was a move to combat with the attmept at lethal. He was cautious with the movement of counters around from one to the other to other artifact creatures. I actually stumbled in my sequencing of a swords snap swords sequencing. I was attempting to fizzle his movement of counters from a ravager to another creature. I swordsed the orignnal ravager, and he sacked to move. With the target on the stack, I flashed in a snap to a yard without a swords, as the first had not resolved. I looked at my options. I had a brainstorm, three accumulated knowledge, and a couple of unrelated spells in my yard. I also had an active featch and knew that the next card was a ponder from my last turn. What to do? I took the risk of fetching from five to a possibly lethal 4 and flashing back AK to draw three. Thankfully there was a swords in those three. I hadn't hit a force yet in the game, it was turn 7 or 8 and I only had the one in hand. I suppose the chances were only so much, but it had to be done. I hit the swords and cracked back for lethal.

5-1

Round 7: Death and Taxes 2-1 Win

This game felt oddly like an odd mirror, except he attempted a prison that only partially controlled me, and I had control spells that completely negated his plans. He had a t2 Thalia g2 and 3. It wasn't that which cost me game 2. It was more the crusader with the sword on it. Games 1 and three were generally a testament to the power of blue card selection to get me the correct white spells and artifacts at the correct times. He hit a palace jailer to become the monarch on board state that only possessed a stoneforge. He exiled the stoneforge, and then the next turn I stuck a True Name. He drew two cards off the Monarchy, and then I stole it. I can just do more with card advantage. The final board state was a jace on ult, a teferi two turns from ult, a TNN with a batterskull and a Jittte While the lifetotals looked close game three, I remember not feeling threatened from 11 to dead maybe...ever. He hung in there for long time hunting for flickerwisps to reset a Jace that was quickly climbing. I wound up winning the game via beats, though. The final lifetotals were 0 to 25. The only question I wound up with at the end was whether or not it was correct to side in the Back to Basics. I still feel that it was.

6-1

Round 8: Mono Red Prison, 2-0 Win

This was a sad game for me. The player and I were hovering around each other for several rouds. He seemed like an upright individual, as most of my opponents were. I also just usually like prison decks. I knew what he was on, already from the hovering. I assumed he knew what I was on as well. Not really sure, though. G1, he was on the play, and I tried to keep a hand that didn't die to chalice 1. Unfortunately, I was not able to force it on t1, when he slammed it. My hand wound up looking like this: Fetch, basic island, Spell Pierce, Stoneforge Mystic, TNN, Jace, Accumulated Knowledge. He mulligans to 6, if I recall correctly, and does what his deck does best. T1 Chalice 1, t2 Trinisphere, T3, Magus of the Moon. It wound up just not being enough. I went T1 Island, oops, T2 Draw force Fetch Plains to avoid being under the moon, T3 Draw Basic Island, leave force open. He slams an Ensnaring Bridge on T4. I wind up drawing a land what never becomes relevant. The game becomes a grind. He is too low for the SFM to be relevant, but if I draw a fourth land I can slam a jace, but not hold up force of will. For the first time in the day I try to throw a serious head fake. He topdecks a Chandra, Torch of Defiane, and slams it. I tap three mana, and slam a spell pierce back at him. He thinks about it for a second...and moves the chandra to the Graveyard. I was at 8 life, and was probably dead to the chandra. If I drew a plains, maybe not, because I had a council's judgement in hand, but I only had one white source at yet. He moves the Chandra to the GY. I had successfully pierced a Chandra...through a chalice on 1. It IS his trigger to remember. I move to my turn, and he immediately realizes he forgot his trigger. I slam jace and take over the game I even leave the magus where it was. It never really mattered to me. Game two was even less of a game. I was able to counter the early pressure points, keep my plays live, and tempo my opponent out to ult Jace a second time. I believe I had also just thrown his morale with the Spell Pierce G1. It is always so important to keep your head clear after making a mistake. I do hope he takes away a lesson from the loss but doesn't stay demoralized about it. He had a really good run with a non Blue deck. He did all of us prison players proud. I apologized for even having to chalice check him and move on to the next game....

Round 9: Miracles, 1-1-1 Draw

These three games were grindy masterpieces. I was feeling pretty good about my chances, no matter what I was against. The potential top 8 included several combo decks, which is why I played Stoneblade in the first place. I hadn't seen much combo at all, at any point during the day, but as I approached the Top 8, I saw more and more meta decks. The player I was againt actually did not know wht I was on, but I had seen him playing earlier and suspected he was on Jeskai Miracles. I was ready for a pcak my lunch match, and that is what I got. Game one was actually fairly quick. He was able to stick and protect his third mentor, and swing lethal. I did, however, hang in there as long as possible without scooping to get as much info as possible about his deck. I learned one important thing: he wasn't on Accumulated Knowledge. This, I supposed, should give me a leg up. I also tried to not play any once I realizeed I was losing the game. Not that I thought he'd bring in Surgical Extraction or Rest in Peace post board, but hiding info when one is losing is best. So, game 2 he hadn't seen any True Name Nemisis or Accumulated Knowledge. Although the game ran long, and he likely saw most of the deck, I won with a TNN swinging with a batterskull. That tends to win games. The last game was under 12 minutes from time. We both played as quickly and deliberately as possible. The game ended with him sticking an irrelevant Jace and Gideon, Ally of Zendikar on T4, and me ending on T5 with a Council's Judgemnt in hand and a pair of snapcaster mages on top of the library after a ponder. He wass a good guy. We both wished each other all the best, and the hope to run it back in the T8, but we drew. Was the first and last time in the swiss rounds.

7-1-1

Round 10: Lands, 2-1 Win

Game one was clawing, kicking and screaming through repeated combo turns from my lands opponent. I think he ended the game at plus 80 life. I was trying really hard to ult my teferi, be it became largely irrelevent with punishing fire in the yard, and my inability to permanently deal with it. Lost game 1, as I said, kicking and screaming. Game two, things get better. Obviosuly, the hate is real post board in my deck. Didn't hurt that games two and three, I saw at least one Back to Basics and Surgical Extraction. I promised I'd post this to my Lands Opponent, so here we go about Game 3. The decisive turn, I believe was my Turn 5 endstep. He had hard assembled combo on the field with an exploration as well. He could have comboed on my endstep. Here was the board state. On my turn five, I had three islands and a plains. I pondered on my turn, looking for a path or a swords ot plaowshares. If I found either I was pretty far ahead. If I didn't he had me dead to rights. I pondered, and I did not see it. So I made what I felt later was an error. I shuffled and drew. I smirked and drew my random card. I played a Tundra, laid my hand face down on the table and passed with Island, Island, Plains and Tundra Open. His board state was a Dark Depths, an exploration, and a Thespian's Stage, a Rishidan Port, a fetch and a Taiga. He was in the tank for a long time. Finally, he says, Port down your basic plains, and I float white mana. He looks at me, and says...” Move to your endstep.” At this point we have a judge scrutinizing us. I say, “mana dissipates” I state it. I don't ask. He says, “go to my turn?” I say, “sure.” He untaps, upkeep, draw. He plays a tracker, and plays a wasteland. He says “make a clue,” “waste your tundra?” I say, “float white.” He looks at me, in deep, deep concern. He then states “I have convinced myself that you don't have a swords.” I shrug. “Move to Combat.” Untap, upkeep, draw. I slam a back to basics. The game is at that point functionally over. The next turn I play a jace and bounce his tracker. At that point I plus and plus, and play a teferi, and plus and plus.... I get to my win and in.
8-1-1

Round 11: Elves, 1-2 Loss

My win and in I make a critical error, one that I likely could have appealed and won the appeal, that cost me game 1, possibly. The world may never know. Honestly, he might have played differently, and he may still have won game one. I never take games from victorious opponents, because it isn't right. That said, I definitely cost myself any chance I had. I was on the play and I fetched a Basic island with two more basic islands in hand and a bunch of white sources. I fetch, and immmediately say, “hold up, I need to fetch differently.” He had already fetched a forest, although I had not yet presented my deck to be cut. Honestly, I am not entirely sure what the correct answer is, but I feel like I should have appealed that. Until the deck is presented, the fetch is not over. I lost g1 with double swords, and a stoneforge mystic in hand. Oh well. Game 2, I do a good job of killing every dork, countering all the glimpses and gszs, and eventually add both a jitte and a true name nemisis to the board. It gets academic pretty quickly. Game three, I wind up getting a little over aggressive and win up having a lethal choke resolved against me. I didn't see any library or choke Game 2, and paid for it.

Overall record, 8-2-1.

I had a blast, and minus a couple of misplays (which sadly cost me my losses), I played pretty tightly. My opponents were all gentlemen, and it is always great to see familiar faces from all the big East Coast legacy events. I wish all my former opponents well, and look forward to running it back next year. Maybe I'll even run yet another new deck. You never know!
]]>Tournament Reportsmalfie13http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?32803-Blue-White-Stoneblade-22nd-Place-at-Eternal-Weekend-Main-Event-Report4C Loam at EW Legacy Champs 2018 - Brief Reporthttp://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?32801-4C-Loam-at-EW-Legacy-Champs-2018-Brief-Report&goto=newpost
Thu, 08 Nov 2018 19:58:00 GMTHere's my brief Eternal Weekend Legacy Champs 2018 report from memory:

This is all from memory, I’m terrible at taking notes and I don’t remember much about how I boarded in each matchup.

Rd. 1 - R/W Painter
Smuggler's copter is annoying, also I probably punted a few plays, died to Bob triggers G1 and 3. I didn’t yet feel mentally warmed for this match.
1-2 0-1

Rd. 2 – Miracles
Opponent was new to his deck/the format.
I don’t remember much about G1 or 2, but he wasn’t playing a standard list, as it featured maindeck RiP/Helm. G3 Opponent wasn’t familiar with Gaddock Teeg. He read it, then tried to Council’s Judgment it, but I had untapped Karakas and no other nonland permanents. He was out of cards at this point, so Kithkin Advisor beats went all the way.
2-1. 1-1

Rd. 3 - RUG Lands
Found myself wanting a Bojuka Bog in this match, as grabbing it w/ Knight would have sealed the game at a couple of points, but Leyline turned out to be enough. I think he had me locked G1, so I scooped and then was able to create some giant Knights in G2. Hardcasted a Leyline G3, which he removed with an EE on 4. I was then able to cast Scooze and hit his Loam without him being able to dredge at instant speed.
2-1 2-1

Rd. 4 - B/R Reanimator
Not much to say here. G1 I died to Griselbrand into Tidespout Tyrant, and then had Leyline in my openers in both G2 and 3.
2-1 3-1

Rd. 5 Grixis Control
Could have taken different lines here to maybe win G3, being on the draw is tough vs Hymn. Strix is a ridiculous magic card.
1-2 3-2

Rd. 6 - Cephalid Breakfast!!!???
G1 he didn't try for combo, his secondary plan was SFM. Steamrolled that w/ Pfire. At this point, I had no idea what was going on, even though I did see a Narcomoeba pitched to FOW, which should have got me to bring in Leyline G2, but I didn't. Got comboed out G2. Leyline was enough in G3.
2-1 4-2

Rd. 7 – ANT
G1 he starts w/ a flurry of discard followed by nothing, and then dies to a big knight a few turns later. I thought about it and decided that Duress + cantrips puts him on storm and boarded accordingly. Lost G2 after putting a chalice on 1 instead of zero which gave him a Petal + LED line. G3 went for chalice on 1 again and got rewarded, his Ad nauseum needed a petal to get going, he ran out of life looking for it. I probably got lucky that he whiffed on Ad Nauseum G3, as my only pressure was Marchesa, who comes down too late to really matter.
Leyline was not bad here since it limits their lines a bit, had it G2 and 3, though I'm not sure if it's correct.
2-1 5-2

Rd. 8 – Burn
Ouch. Price of Progress is dumb vs 4C Loam. Opponent told me he had been pretty fortunate matchup-wise all day, and in G1 when I fetched Bayou + Mox into Bob on T1 on the play, he knew he was in the clear once again.
0-2 5-3

Rd. 9 - RUG Delver
Chalice on 1 shuts off 90 % of their deck G1. Knight doesn’t care about Goyf and tutors Wasteland. It seemed like he bricked on countermagic pretty hard all match and had “zoo” draws both games. G2 ended w/ me at 1 life after getting hit repeatedly by double thresh’d ‘Goose. He had several cards in hand but no land, so I was afraid of the topdeck Volcanic/fetch into bolt to finish me, but he didn’t draw the land.
2-0 6-3

At this point, I was feeling pretty great, as I’ve never done this well in a huge tournament before. I should have kept my excitement in check, but my friends and I went out to the bars and stayed up super late. Not a good way to prep for the final rounds.
Day 2:
Wasn’t feeling very well after many beers the night before and 4.5 hours of bad sleep, but I made it down to the tournament on-time, in spite of the Triathlon that was clogging up the city.

Rd. 10 - Grixis Control
Lost G1 after he resolved a Jace and I had bad mana. Won G2 w/ Choke. G3 I had Chalice on 1, active loam + thicket, Choke and Garruk in hand, and a killer hangover. I let him resolve a Surgical on my Loam through my chalice, which completely ruined all my lines; I needed to recur a fetchland at least 1 more time to get to the big stuff in my hand. This was the only chalice trigger I missed in the main event. O well.
Still only 2% regret going out on the town Saturday night.
1-2 6-4

Rd. 11 – drop
Got ready to leave and was able to pick up a minty Italian Tabernacle by trading in some random stuff I wasn’t using and some spare duals.

Final thoughts:
My deck honestly felt amazing and was very fun to play.

I was pretty happy with my sideboard choices. I didn’t get to cast Garruk in any games, so I can’t evaluate how useful he is. He is the easiest to cast of the planeswalkers available for the slot. My logic is that he affects the board right away, so I think he gets the nod.

Burn is the only thing that I truly fear while playing 4C Loam, maybe also Omnitell/Sneak ‘n’ Show. It seems like Loam has at least some game against everything else.

I strongly believe that it’s the only deck in the meta that can properly take advantage of Liliana of the Veil.

Pfire + Loam is definitely one of the most powerful things that you can do in Legacy today.

Assassin’s Trophy was fine but Decay is definitely still required. I think 2 and 2 is the correct split. Against RUG Delver, Trophy was an instant-speed Sinkhole.

Leyline over performed, I boarded it in a bunch and had it in my opener most of the time.

Another vote from me for Marchesa as well, an awesome and incredibly fun card.

I definitely struggle against skilled Grixis control players, but that's not the deck's fault.

All in all, EW 2018 was an absolute blast, and I found Pittsburgh to be a pretty nice city.

All my opponents were a pleasure to play against, and overall, this was by far the best experience I've ever had in a large MTG tournament. I can’t wait for next year!
]]>Tournament Reportsultrabadbobhttp://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?32801-4C-Loam-at-EW-Legacy-Champs-2018-Brief-ReportElves - Eternal Weekend Pittsburgh 2018http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?32798-Elves-Eternal-Weekend-Pittsburgh-2018&goto=newpost
Tue, 06 Nov 2018 06:04:23 GMTSeeing as how CardTitan hasn't posted results, player profiles, decklists, or even the name of the winner from the event I figured I'd briefly write up something about my experience at Eternal Weekend Pittsburgh 2018.

So if you remember my last tournament writeup, prior to the Deathrite ban, you'll recall that back in July I wanted to quit legacy. Well the ban happened and things did change a bit, so here we are. Sadly the Deathrite/Probe ban didn't really help my local store, if anything it reduced interest by the grinders and led to decreased attendance which reduced interest by everyone else. I think the decks are a bit more interesting right now, but that's just an opinion.
Regardless of what the field looked like I was going to be on Elves for this event. I've been playing some Death and Taxes in the year since the last Eternal Weekend, but ultimately I've always found Legacy to be a format where if you just play what you know and play it well then you can usually make it work.

There are some pictures of the deck in the other thread so if you want a visual look there. Nothing has changed aesthetically since.

I don't take notes during matches (aside from hand information), so this is what I have off memory. I used to write down my sideboarding and some brief notes after the match, but I haven't cared to do so in the last few large events I've played.

Game 1: I win the roll and lead on a Nettle Sentinel. He fetches into a Taiga and Crop Rotations into Tabernacle. I wind up with 3 Nettle Sentinels, another elf or two, and a Cradle. He has a Punishing Fire and a Grove, but with the turn 1 Tabernacle crippling his mana there's not much going on from his end.

Game 2: He has half of everything going on. He has a Punishing Fire with no Grove, he has a Stage with no Depths, he Gambles for a Life from the Loam - the only reason I can guess being that he was afraid of the 33% chance he'd discard Depths if he got that? He winds up casting the Loam to get back a single fetchland, then doesn't dredge it? He apparently either soul read that he was drawing a Crop Rotation or risked discarding it on his gamble... so on the end of my turn he rotates into Depths and has mana to make Marit Lage. Rather than do that he untaps and dredges his Loam. I kill him on my turn through the Marit Lage on defense.

Round 2 vs Matthew (2-0)
Grixis Delver

Game 1: He has a Bitterblossom on turn 2 and I just ignore it. He takes a few points of damage, but I'm able to assemble Wirewood + Visionary and draw into Craterhoof off Cavern of Souls.

Game 2: He left in his Bitterblossoms and plays one on turn 3, he has little other action going on so I again durdle with Visionaries and pull far enough ahead to risk a Natural Order.

Round 3 vs Patrick Green (2-1)
Miracles

Patrick goes on a tear and Wins the event despite the early loss; congratulations to him.

Game 1: dunno. I believe he gets a Terminus on turn 3 to hit 3 creatures and I fall behind.

Game 2: dunno. Definitely involves two Chokes though which forces him to bring in Disenchant game 3 if I'm not mistaken.

Game 3: We grind for a while, but I have action Visionary. He's low on resources and Entreats for 4 Angels to play defense and eventually try and win the game. I've been ahead on cards all match and he's just run out, so I'm able to Assassin's Trophy and Abrupt Decay 2 Angels and swing for a lethal 3 or 4 damage through the remaining two.

Round 4 vs Rick (2-0)
Moon Stompy

I expected I'd be seeing this deck a fair bit this weekend, it was a pretty popular choice in the previous year. I debated playing 3 forests to try and combat it, but wound up nixing the idea.

Game 1: These games are fuzzy, but I'm reasonably sure he Moons, but doesn't have any pressure and I already have a Forest in play to work with. I play a couple points of power and beat him down while his side of the board is clear.

Game 2: He has a Sorcerous Spyglass and gets to see my hand with Wirewood, Quirion, stuff, and 2 Misty Rainforest to go with my one land in play. He names the Wirewood and I get to make more land drops. I think he gets a Chalice on 1 or something, but again doesn't have a threat to follow it up and I get to take some time to find an answer.

Round 5 vs Cyrus Corman-Gill (0-2)
ANT

Cyrus gets 2nd in this event with an undefeated record into first seed of top 8.

Game 1: I play an Elf, he kills me on his turn 2 with a Cabal Ritual, LED, Past in Flames, Dark Petition hand.

Game 2: I have a fairly quick hand with a Surgical, on the play this is fine. He Duresses me then kills me on turn 2 with a Ritual, LED, Past in Flames, Ad Nauseum hand.

Last year I took my loss in round 7, so it was unfortunate to pick one up earlier this year. We finish fast enough though that I can get food.

Round 6 vs Christopher Walton (2-0)
Czech Pile

Christopher gets 3rd this event. He's a bit bummed to be paired down against me this round though with his x-0-1 record.

Game 1: I have a solid start and I'm able to out value him.

Game 2: I slam a Choke and he has to burn some blue lands as lotus petals to cantrip. I know he has a Snapcaster stuck in his hand due to the mana constraints. He's unable to recover from the loss of tempo and I pull ahead.

Round 7 vs John (1-2)
Grixis Control

Game 1: I mull to 4 and he has a Hymn into Last Hope to lock me out.
Game 2: I choke him.
Game 3: He has Hymn into Kolaghan's Command (shock, discard) into Kolaghan's Command (shock, discard) and I just never recover.

Rough loss. I start looking forward to losing a third so I can drop, get food, and guarantee myself being at the Eternal Central Old School event on Sunday.

Round 8 vs Brian (2-1)
Mono Blue Painter

Game 1: He kills me on turn 2 or something silly with natural Painter + Stone and some acceleration.

Game 2: He mulls down some and has a hand that can make a Karn, Scion of Urza on turn 2 or 3. He makes a creature and I'm able to Natural Order him.

Game 3: He again mulls down and leads on a Painter. I Thoughtseize him to not die and see a hand of lands, a Mox Opal, and a Preordain. I take the Preordain and just have to cross my fingers for the two turns it takes me to Zenith for a Reclamation Sage to kill his Painter. He finds a cantrip at some point, but it's not enough to get him somewhere relevant in the game once I start looping a Visionary and eventually find a Pithing Needle on turn 4 or 5 if I'm not mistaken.

Round 9 vs Colin (2-0)
Grixis Delver

Game 1: dunno.
Game 2: dunno.

---

Unfortunately I finish the day x-2 with highest breakers and a slim chance at top 8, so I commit to playing at least round 10 rather than dropping and heading straight to Old School. With highest breakers I'm reasonably sure it's worthwhile to play out the event in its entirety for prize since I'm basically guaranteed top 32 if I finish x-3. I intend then to finish the event out and try to join Old School with a first round or two loss.

I head on out for food with some Atlanta and California guys at an Italian place across from the hotel and order a sampler meat/cheese plate where I don't like half the items - whoops. I go destroy the restroom at the hotel and watch the second half of Talladega Nights.

Day 2 starts with me waking up far too early due to Daylight Savings. I walk to an ATM a few blocks away and stop in at a local convenience store (since CVS was closed on Sunday) where I'm able to purchase my first Coke of the weekend. Pittsburgh is a dirty Pepsi town. I walk past the finish line for the 10 mile Bike Race going on in town and the remnants of the stage from the Kesha concert that happened a block away the night before. I get to the convention center with about an hour to spare and lay out Old School to submit a decklist photo.

Sadly this is the first day of the trip that the sun has come out, so glare wins out and I have a shit photo.

---

Round 10 vs James (2-1)
Goblins

Now here's a matchup I hadn't expected to play day two.

Game 1: James has a turn 2 Sparksmith and we both spout some praise for the two mana pinger. Sadly a pinger isn't going to win the game against the Beast that is Craterhoof Behemoth so I let him know what's up and have a turn 4 kill?

Game 2: He has a turn 3 Ensnaring Bridge to keep things from getting too out of hand and is able to get a Warchief down and Matrons into Chainwhirler to mop up a few creatures on my side. I make some board presence, but he winds up with a Krenko Mob Boss in play so I'm basically on remove the Ensnaring Bridge or bust. He mops it up with some very large Krenko activations.

Game 3: He has a Damping Sphere on his 2 which sets me back. I have a Decay for it a turn later when I need to start using my Cradle and he immediately sticks another one. I extend with my colorless Cradle and wind up just tapping 4 lands like a normal deck to Natural Order him.

Round 11 vs Alexander (2-1)
UW Stoneblade

The standings in this event were all screwed up. Going into day two there was like 7 draws throughout the top 16 players, which made for some weird math that required all but the top 2 tables to play in the last round. Alexander is in the draw bracket above me so we're both on a win and in since my breakers are above 70%. We're on the backup feature match, but I don't think they aired it.

Game 1: He leads on Flooded Strand. I have a Misty Rainforest and immediately crack it. He fetches in response while mentioning getting Stifled. He finds a basic Island, puts it into play and begins shuffling his deck. I ask if I'm getting Stifled and he says no, that I'm good to resolve my fetch. So I go find basic Forest and put it into play. At this point he turns to the table spotter/judge and asks if he can "choose a different land." I stare at the judge in case I need to start making an appeal, but the judge is on it and tells him that he's already made and confirmed his decision.
Well turns out he doesn't have another fetch in his hand and plays like 4 islands in a row. I run him over with Visionary and a pile of creatures and he finds a White source on the last turn before conceding.

Game 2: I put him on Miracles with Back to Basics and sideboard accordingly, this involves bringing in the two Nissas. This game he shows me a Stoneforge, Jitte, and 2 True-Names. He plays his Batterskull a bit weird and I'm able to nuke it, but it doesn't do enough to combat the 6 power of Latch Seekers.

Game 3: I get to revise my board now and slide the Nissas back into it, putting 2 Natural Order back into my deck. He has a turn 2 Jitte but doesn't have a creature to pair with it. I find an Abrupt Decay and play it patient. I'm able to take out the Jitte and when he Stoneforges into Batterskull I Choke him back to 1 land and he never recovers.

---

So at this point I'm locked for 7th seed. It's quickly approaching 11:30 in the morning thanks to the 30 minute delay starting the tournament. I've missed the start of Old School and now it looks like I'll be missing the event as a whole.
When they finish the round and announce the top 8 it's already Noon. I'm told to return at 1:30 to do player profiles and photos, so I meet up with Christopher on the way out and we grab pizza. We get back at 1:30 and do the photos and are told that they're expecting vintage top 8 to finish somewhere between 3:30 and 4:00PM. God damn.
I settle in and watch some friends crush the Team Trios while I wait. By the end of today I'll have played a total of 3 matches in 9 hours.

I don't play in main events usually. Ever since GPs grew to two day affairs and SCG followed suit I've avoiding playing them. It's just too much time to waste playing one event and I hate the feeling when you're on the bubble and have to suffer through a bunch of rounds only to miss out. Splitting the Legacy event to two days again meant that I had to burn a whole day not entering side events (notably the EternalCentral Old School event). I understand that last year was a slog with all 11 rounds in one day, but at the end of that day I knew where I stood. I knew I'd come up short and was done with the event.

Anyways, I knew my opponent was on Sneak and Show so I just relaxed and avoided thinking about how much of a waste of time it was to sit around for 4 hours just to play an awful matchup I was probably going to lose in 10 minutes.
I got some congratulations from people on facebook and twitter, as well as a few warnings about my opponent in the coming match. I don't usually stare into my opponent's soul and mash shuffle their deck for 20 seconds, but with that many people giving me a heads up it felt necessary. I should add that I have no reason to suspect anything influenced the outcome of our match.

---

Top 8 vs Brandon De Vera (1-2)
Sneak and Show

Brandon's on that hybrid list or whatever it's called. He's got a Jace, Mind Sculptor, a V Clique, and a pair of Omniscience in his deck. 0 Cunning Wish, 0 Intuition. All things considered this is one of the easier builds for me to steal a game off since it's less dense in cards I care about.
This is a camera feature match, so I'm sure it's somewhere online.

Game 1: I keep a respectable hand that can produce a relatively quick kill with a lucky draw or two. Luck favors me and I rip a Birchlore so I can go nuts on turn 2 and put a bunch of power in play. I don't have a way to kill him on the spot, but he bricks on a third land and passes it back. After he whiffs on a land again he scoops to a Glimpse of Nature with a large amount of mana floating. Personally I think that's premature, but whatever works for him.

Game 2: I keep a lukewarm hand that has a Thoughtseize and a Natural Order. If I draw a 1 drop creature I can definitely pressure him to do something about the Natural Order. Ideally even if it's not for lethal I can get him to a low enough life total where a Griselbrand can't draw cards against the Assassin's Trophy in my hand. I know the hand looks weird, but this is a 15 land deck with a lot of bad 1/1s and 2/2s, you can't really gamble with your mulligans when you have a piece of interaction already. The odds that I find a better hand on 6 or 5 with a Thoughtseize, black source, and a clock are slim so I'm counting on my top 2-3 cards being any warm bodies.
Being able to have him forced to draw with Griselbrand when I go to Assassin's Trophy it, then forcing him to have the answer to a lethal Natural Order is a big deal and you don't always get that opportunity.

Game 3: Stuff happens and there's a Grislebrand in play. I have some live draws, but I've already been exceptionally lucky to have him draw so dead and my luck runs out. To the people asking why I didn't put in a fetch and get a second arbor, well I only have 1 in the 75. As for why I sandbagged the Fyndhorn Elf I miscounted the damage and thought that the 6 damage from drawing a Natural Order if he Pyroclasm'd me would be sufficient, but he's at 7 at that point I think. It also leaves me open to draw a Glimpse and potentially have that matter.

---

So overall not the most exciting finish, but I was definitely more in that last match than I expected to be. All the Hex Depths decks were vanquished in top 8 so I had a fairly realistic shot if I had gotten through that match. My next round would have been the Miracles I had already beaten in the swiss and finals would have been a 35/65 or something matchup again.

I walk with $700 store credit and a pile of Ultra Pro product including a draw string bag that perfectly fits my dirty underwear from the trip.
I go out to Fogo with some of the Roanoke crew and my Atlanta hotelmate and we gorge on meat.

Props:
- Jeff Laubenstein for drawing me an awesome mat last year and gifting me a print to go with it when I went to thank him in person.
- Vintage being fun to watch on Friday.
- All of my opponents playing at a reasonable pace unprompted and none of my matches going to time, which let me having plenty of time to get food between one of the rounds.
- Jefferey Krasnozon getting 29th with a sweet Cloudstone Curio elves list including Beast Whisperer and Essence Warden.
- CardTitan proactively calling an event recess when whichever event reporter (WLTR?) they were using had some issues.
- The History Center being an awesome walkthrough feature Apollo 11 and Mister Rogers among other things.

Slops:
- Missing EternalCentral Old School.
- The event schedule putting 3 round events two hours apart.
- Team Trios overlapping multiple events, including the legacy main event. With some adjustments that could have been it's own main event and I would have loved to play in it.
- Wizards not paying to make a stable piece of TO software.

Thoughts:
- Wren's Run Packmaster needs to come back.
- Cabal Therapy deserves a slot again.
- I should play Maverick again for a bit.

When I got to eternal weekend on Thursday afternoon, I had not yet decided to play my usual MUDpost deck, or UW Stoneblade. I was leaning towards stoneblade bu decided to play a trial just to test out where my skill level was for the sake of the sake.. I will include my first five round Trial as well as the 11 rd Eternal Weekend Legacy Champs main event.

Friday Morning, last chance trial. Overall record, 4.0.1, with a scoop last rd to go 4.1

Rd 1 vs Eldrazi Aggro win 2x0

Game 1 My opponent mulligans to 6, presumably to slam a t1 chalice. It was sight unseen for both of us, as I hadn't met her before. So, I kept a decent hand, and was on the draw. And, t1 she plays a tomb, goes to 18 to cast a chalice on one. So, my 'decent' hand instantly got worse. Mildly worse. My hand was fetch, island, stoneforge, snap, ponder, force, ak. I was in the tank for about ten seconds, but I let the chalice resolve based on the information that I had and what I had in my hand. I then went to my turn. I play my tarn and pass. My draw for the turn was a very dead swords. Her next turn she plays an eldrazi temple and a thought knot seer. That, once again, I let resolve, which felt off, but I didn't want to two for one myself and I was honestly interested to see her skill level by what she chose to take and to see if she knew exactly what I was on. She resolves the trigger and takes the force. I was actually mildly relieved. I go to my turn and choose to not upkeep crack. I am rewarded with a basic plains. I play the plains, crack the tarn for a tundra, and cast the mystic. I feel that the best route is the batterskull, so I grab it.

Next turn, sh plays mimic and swings for 4. I choose to not block, and go to 15. Most of the damage that gets done in this match, I will be honest, she inflicts on herfself via the ancient tomb. She correctly feels that she needs to close out the game relatively quickly. I draw a council's judgment on her end step with ak, and exile the tks, drawing a force off the trigger. After that she's never really back in the saddle until very late in the game. I snap back the judgment two turns later to exile the chalice, and unlock my hand. She hits a smasher off of a cavern that I exile with a swords. Ultimately, she sticks a ballista with my shields down. It was an odd play. She had several tombs in play. She played it on like 6 or so, and went to 3 life off of it. The odd part was that it was not enough to kill me, but if she had gone to 1 and put it on 7 it would have been. Magic is a tricky game, and she didn't completely math correctly. I had stuck a tnn a few turns earlier and swing lethal.

Game two wasn't really much of a game. She does eldrazi things off tempo a little. A t2 chalice meets a snare, I counter some of the more prolematic plays, like a jitte and etc. Things get dicey for a few turns towards the end where she casts two smashers through caverns. I stabilize at two life after tripple blocking a smasher with two sfm and a tnn, activating the sfm to poop in a batterskull. Long story short, it ends up equipped to my tnn, and the game is virtually over.

1-0

G2 Miracles, 2-1 Win

This was one of the four times I went to close to time all weekend. I hate hearing that UW cannot close out a match. It kinda bugs me. It has more to do with the players, their pace, and their familiarity with their lines than the colors of the deck, in my opinion. My opponent towards time in rd really seemed to decide drawing was his best line for making some tickets. I took the choice out of his hands. I am going to skip basically to g3. It became a fairly technical match of when to and not to utilize accumulated knowledge in a mirror where both people were using them. I tended to be much more proactive on playing them out of my hand as long as I had counter backup for the ramifications. I had sided into two vcliques to respond to miracle triggers, ofc sided in flusters, and kept every piece of one for one permission and two forces. I was on the draw g3. On the friday trial I also had a hydro in my sb, in place of an rip. I had chosen to not side it in, as I was unclear if he had sided in any pyros or even ran red. Anyway. As I said, the game was a serious clinic in using ak correctly in the current meta. I tended to be aggressive casting out of hand and reactive when sngwould tend to counter it if I could and garnered more than two cards, but if he were to try to snapcaster them, I would snapcaster mine in response so that I could always draw minimum one more coard than he did. I am not sure he ever caught on. About five minutes out from hitting turns, I got the distinct impression I had him shelled up against a wall and he had resigned to try to play defensively and draw. We were the last two to be playing so we had everyone else watching us, too. I pushed that out of my mind, although it did register that the element of surprise was dead for the rest of the tournament. Oh well. I had an active tnn with a batterskull on it. He used his third terminus to push it to the bottom. I had a stocked hand of 7 cards, but I allowed it to happen so that I wouldn't die to a my endstep miracled entreat. God, I played my friend Charlie too many times. I soul read him. I try to look sad and go to discard with 8 in hand. These were my 8. Snap, vclique, venser, snare, fluster, brainstorm, fetch, force. I announce discard. He plays a brainstorm and attempts to miracle an entreat for 7 angels, leaving open some amount of open mana. I allowed the brainstorm to resolve already, knowing full well that he would have the entreat with the trigger in his hand for me to vclique, but I wanted to make him use maximum resources to accomplish this. So, I cast Venser and bounce the entreat. He recasts another brainstorm, and I assume entreat is now back on top of his library. We go to his draw step, and he again hits entreat for what would be lethal. This time we go to war. I cast vclique to get the entreat out of his hand in response to the trigger. He fetches and casts a snapcaster, I assume to counter the vclique, so I snare the snapcaster. He looks at his mana and realizes that he is almost entirely tapped out at this point on turn zero. He also only has 2 cards in his hand. He casts ak with his last two open mana, it would have been for five, so I fluster it. He does not have the mana to pay for it. The stack resolves and I claim his entreat. He resdraws on his draw step with two cards in his hand, and passes to my turn. I have left in my hand, snap, bs, force and fetch. This was the end of t2, at this point I realize. I have four open mana. I consider my options and cast snapcaster. He sighs and taps his third from final open land to cast snare. I force pitching brainstorm. Lol. I get to redraw 6 cards. I refill my hand by snapping back ak for six. I go to my turn refilled. My board is now almost certainly lethal I assume with my opponent with one card in hand, which, during my upkeep he casts. It's his final ak. God. Freaking. Damnit. We are on t3 of turns. I consider my options I am untapped with an almost lethal board. I have a vclique, a snap, some other garbage...and my own last ak. Sigh. It was incredibly tricky to let an ak resolve for full value, so I snap back one of my aks in response, and draw five more cards. I look at my hand which is now overloaded with good stuff and pass priority. Bc life is strange, his first draw is a miracle blind terminus, and he puts the trigger on the stack and finishes drawing his three other cards. Once again I am presented with a difficult situation to navigate. I can clique his terminus like I did his entreat, or I can play around it. In my and after my own ak, in addition to what I had already, I now had a tnn and my sword of fire and ice. I sigh, AND I let the terminus resolve and go to my draw step with 8 cards in library. I cast tnn, and it resolves. He brainstorms on my endstep with a snapcaster/bs, and I swords his snap to test for any thoughts of countermagic. The swords brings him to exactly 7 life. Lolz. So, I go to discard, and pass turn. He miracles an entreat on his draw step for 4. It's t4 anyway, and he probably thinks he has successfully drawn the game. I allow it to resolve. He casts jace and brainstorms. He disenchants my batterskull. He goes to endstep, and I clique him to see if the path is clear. He had around 14 cards in library and four in hand. I have 7 in library, and 7 in hand. Odd life. I resolve clique and he lays down his hand. He has force, pierce, snare, bs. Oh, that's some stuff. I clique his bs. I don't want to deal with the unknown. I consider drawing all the cards left in my deck with my last ak, and then think better of it. So. T5 is my turn. Untap, upkeep, draw. Oh look. That snapcaster is back. I think I had every mana producing land in my deck on the field and a dead fetch. Here's how it went. First. Thing. First. It is possible that I clicked him into a fluster, so I cast my sofi to bait the counterwar. He pierces first. I assume that means he has fluster. It was worse. I go ahead and force with my second of two forces the pierce, he casts force pitching snare, I fluster the force. Fluster resolves. I realize later I SHOULD HAVE flustered the original spell, but it wound up not mattering. He casts snap to fluster, I assume, which was his last card in hand. I cast snap in response and snare his snap. He extends his hand as I have a bunch of open mana when the sword of fire and ice resolves. 3/1 tnn, plus two from sword plus two from shock equals exactly 7 damage on t5. I got a round of applause for navigating that clogged situation.

2-0

Match three: Death and Taxes

I don't remember too much about this match, to be honest. It is overwhelmingly likely I was going on instinct after that draining game vs miracles. I played d and t like three times over the course of the weekend, and was never impressed with how it lined up vs my deck. I feel like I do a better impression of what it tries to do, and run a zillion basics. I even found that back to bascis locks them out hard even though they're technically a mono colored deck. Looking at the life totals in my pad, it doesnt look like my opponent ever got much going.

3-0

Match 4: Grixis / 4c Control

Match 4 also went to time. In fact, of the four timed I went to time all weekend three were on Friday. The majority of the reason why this match went to time was a general lack of ways to deal with a resolved liliana g1 in the deck if the board got too stalled and he could manage the tnns. G2 and 3 were much less in his favor. I sided in my second judgement, my sofi and 2nd clique to add more evasion and a gideon to spam the board and keep edicts from being as effective, and ways to hit fast and hard. I got a scoop in turns after keeping his board eitherunder control (g2), or just putting on way too much pressure that couldn't be edicted to deal (with gideon) game 3. Overall I was still a little tired, but felt that I did generally ok.

4-0

Match 5: Lands.

I had previously played this lands pilot last year in my win and in with mud. He remembered me and I remembered him. He was a deliberate and honest player. I had basically already made up my mind that if I couldn't win cleanly I would scoop bc I had dreamcrushed last year, and I liked him, and didn't feel like doing it again. G1 was a grind. I feel like g1 vs lands I am very much an underdog if I cannot navigate with the utmost of control elements and keep tight lines. I was actually able to do that, though. I tended to be more disrutptive than anything else. I didn't counter recursive spells, unless they were able to disrupt me. I fetched for the correct lands at the correct times, and kept constant pressure on with tnns, until he had no choiec but to play lands and fetch for a glcial chasm with no exploration. It was a grind. G1 the winning sequence was on his endstep to venser his chasm back to his hand. He predictably staged his chasm. He was well within lethal range. He had to repeadly pay for chasm, and had been beaten down by tnn for several turns. I then play karakas for turn, bounce venser, bounce his thespians staged chasm and swing lethal. G1 took like 38 minutes to win tho. Ick. G2 was like 3 minutes long. He stuck his second tracker. It got big. I never saw a third land to snap a swords, and i died. We only had like 4 minutes for g3. We both push hard into the pace. When we hit turns, he had tapped out for a tracker, I swordsed it, untapped and slammed a back to basics. That said, there would have been a long stall in the board. I scooped to him so he could have the byes. I felt like it was the correct thing to do.

Technically, 4.0.1. I discovered that I hated going to time. I only did once in the main event.

I will put a full main event report in the report section in the next couple of days.
]]>Tournament Reportsmalfie13http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?32797-22nd-place-with-uw-stoneblade-at-ew-2018-pt1-friday-trials11th place with U/G/w Infect at Eternal Weekend - A Tournament Recap by Jesturehttp://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?32796-11th-place-with-U-G-w-Infect-at-Eternal-Weekend-A-Tournament-Recap-by-Jesture&goto=newpost
Mon, 05 Nov 2018 20:04:21 GMTMy weekend started on Thursday with an afternoon flight to Orlando, Florida to visit my brother. We had an excellent dinner at Rav Pig (possibly...My weekend started on Thursday with an afternoon flight to Orlando, Florida to visit my brother. We had an excellent dinner at Rav Pig (possibly short for 'Ravnica Pig'?) and then went to Downtown Sanford to hang out with a couple of his friends at a local bar/coffee shop. We get back to his place at around midnight, and I crash on his couch for ~4 hours before getting up for a red-eye to Pittsburgh.

My flight touches down at about 9am and I catch a shuttle bus to arrive at the hotel by 10. I spend the next hour freshening up and deliberating between using the down time to catch up on sleep and competing in a Legacy trial to try and earn a bye for Legacy Champs. Doing things sounds better than potentially being bored so I pack up my belongings and head for the tournament hall, picking up some Jimmy John's along the way.

(Exact round numbers and game might be slightly off, was still pretty tired at this point)

Shoutout to my round 4 opponent, 'The Source' user CptHaddock. We had a great match, and a great conversation about our respective decks and the state of the meta game to follow.

With first round bye firmly in hand, I spend the rest of the afternoon watching my fellow Lone Star Lhurgoyfs do battle in various side events and the Vintage Champs main event. Afterwards, a couple of us make an attempt to visit the nearby Primanti Bros., but make a detour to the Westin's burger bar after the line becomes too much to bear. Quiet evening after this, I'm not thrilled with my decklist for the trial but submit the exact same 75 for the main event tomorrow because I'm too tired to think about what changes need to be made.

Saturday morning rolls around and I'm feeling great for the first time all week. I grab breakfast in the hotel lobby with my teammates, then take my time getting ready as my first round bye lets me arrive an hour later than everyone else. I get to the convention center at ~10am and hop straight into Round 2.

Didn't take notes on the matches, but I'll jot down what I remember from each one.

R1 Bye from Friday trial
Nothing to see here.0-0, 1-0

R2 Peter C. on Eldrazi Post
I'm pretty happy with this matchup, as the Eldrazi Stompy matchup has felt even in the past and this deck has traded out some of the faster elements for a better late game. With more time to set up, I feel this matchup leans heavily in Infect's favor.

Peter seems like a great guy. It's bittersweet to win against a friendly opponent, but I was happy to see he made his way into the top 64 by the end of the tournament.2-0, 2-0

R3 Walter H. on 4c Loam
I'd consider this one of Infect's worst matchups and easily Infect's worst non-blue matchup. I steal a game one as Walter mulligans to 5 and never really gets his footing. Game 2 goes predictably awfully for me with Bobs, Lili's, and Knights grinding me into oblivion. Game 3 looks to be going the same way, but I manage to exploit a small opening as I main phase Pendelhaven an Inkmoth Nexus to prompt a Golgari Charm, then Vines of the Vastwood to survive the charm and play around an on board Maze of Ith with a Berserk in hand for an exact 8 poison lethal.2-1, 3-0

R4 Richard B. on Spaghetti Stompy
Game 1 I find my main deck Dissenter's Deliverance and use it to destroy a Chalice that's locking me out of the game. Going into game 2 I realize my sideboard map is all over the place and I'm forced to leave in 2 Dazes on the draw against Eldrazi as I have nothing to board in for them. My opponent goes t1 Eldrazi Temple into Mimic as I play a t1 Tropical Island Glistener Elf. His t2 Eldrazi Temple into TKS gets hit by a Daze, then a t3 Ancient Tomb into Walking Ballista X=2 also gets hit by a Daze. I leave this match pretty conflicted, as the lack of preparation did me a real solid in that second game.2-0, 4-0

R5 Roland C. on Grixis Delver
This one gets really ugly really fast. Roland starts with an early Delver of Secrets followed quickly by a Bomat Courier. A flurry of cantrips and soft permission keeps me from developing while the Insect clocks in, and the ruthless efficiency of Delver gets me to zero before I've seen a third color from his deck.

Game 2 shows him to be on Grixis Delver, and I put up a better showing than in game 1 but ultimately fall to a twin pair of 3 power flyers.

Roland was all business during our games, but we have a pleasant conversation about Bomat Courier's place in the deck afterwards. I bump into him a few times later throughout the event, and the conversation continues on to Grixis Delver's identity in the meta and how his list differs from a lot of the stock lists floating around. Really interesting stuff.0-2, 4-1

R6 Jacob K. on Elves
Jacob flubs a line in game 1 which leads to his Natural Order getting Dazed. In game 2 I set up a turn with a lethal Inkmoth attack, only to be surprised by an Assassin's Trophy. Luckily I have the Force, but I wasn't even thinking about this card when I made my move. We talk about his singleton Savannah and the merits of Archon of Valor's Reach in Elves. I'm convinced that it has enough utility to fit into the main deck, both as a hard castable bomb and as a Natural Order target.2-0, 5-1

R7 Jason P. on R/G Burn
Jason is sporting a very interesting variant of burn that cuts some of the less efficient burn spells for more creatures and an array of green pump spells. I can't quite recall the events of games 1 and 2, but game 3 goes in his favor off of the back an Eidolon backed up by a Pyrostatic Pillar.

As an aside, I think the average maturity of people at this tournament was through the roof compared to a lot of other big tournaments I've been to. I called Jason on a missed Eidolon trigger in game 3, and though he wasn't thrilled about it in the moment, we shook hands and seemed to be on really friendly terms after the match had ended. Though I can only speak for myself, I can't imagine a game with a similar judge call to have ended so amiably on both sides at any SCG or GP that I've been to in the past. Shoutout to Jason P., your deck was awesome and it was an absolute pleasure playing against you.1-2, 5-2

R8 Bill S. on Death and Taxes
Bill is a quiet guy, but he's one of those players who knows his deck through and through. I ask him after the match to confirm my suspicions, but even during the match I'm somewhat unnerved that he seems to make the correct play at every turn and doesn't seem to be surprised by anything.

A moderately lengthy game 1 goes in his favor after he tutors and equips and Jitte, shortly followed by a vial activation on 3 into Flickerwisp to thwart my attempt at lethal.

Game 2 goes in my favor, though I don't really remember the details here.

Game 3 is an interesting affair, as Bill gets down an early Vial and ticks it up to three to start applying pressure with Mirran Crusaders and Umezawa's Jitte. I make an early Brainstorm decision to keep two pieces of artifact removal (Dissenter's Deliverance and Krosan Grip) and use the former to destroy the Jitte to prevent the Crusader from stealing the game. As his vial sits on 3, I begin to suspect that my decision has paid off and I eventually use an end of turn Krosan Grip to destroy the Vial to play around a potential Flickerwisp. Untap, activate Inkmoth, Invigorate, Vines, and exalted trigger is exactly 10 poison with a backup Force of Will to counter his Swords to Plowshares.

Afterwards, he shows me the Flickerwisp that got stranded in hand when I EoT gripped the Vial.2-1, 6-2

R9 Hank W. on U/R Omnitell
I'm surprised when Hank leads with Volcanic into Ponder, then pitches a Pact of Negation to Force of Will my Blighted Agent in game 1. Knowing that he's on combo, I quickly cantrip for and deploy another Blighted Agent. Details are hazy from here, but I believe I counter a Show and Tell, then crack back the following turn for Lethal.

Game 2 goes in his favor. I'm forced to let a Show and Tell resolve, putting in a Pithing Needle to his Omniscience. I name Sneak Attack, and he proceeds to cast Cunning Wish into Firemind's Foresight, setting up a Release the Ants kill with Emrakul on top of his library. Whoops, that ain't Sneak and Show.

Game 3 is something of a non-game. Hank spends 3 turns cantripping, and I have exactly enough cards in the graveyard for Invigorate into Become Immense with Daze back up to close out the match.2-1, 7-2

Satisfied with my Day 1 performance, I trek back to the hotel and make a trip to the nearby casino with a couple of my teammates to wind down. I leave after dinner, some of my teammates stay and win a fair amount off of Blackjack and Poker.

Saturday begins very similarly to how Friday did. I wake up, get ready, then eat breakfast with some of my teammates. There's a marathon happening in the nearby area, so we opt to walk to the convention center as the hotel shuttle isn't running that day. After a brief delay for technical issues, we begin round 10 at 9:30am.

R10 Fucheng J. on B/R Reanimator
Game 1 is a brief affair as Fucheng mulligans to 5 and can't quite pick up the traction needed to combo off.

Game 2 has a little more play to it, as Fucheng casts a Dark Ritual, followed by a Magus of the Moon and two open mana. With 2 non-basics and a Hierarch in play I Brainstorm in response to find a Force of Will and Blighted Agent, deciding to let the Magus resolve with the plan to untap and cast Blighted Agent to race. He uses the remaining two mana to Abrade the Hierarch, which I'm forced to Force or be cut off of green and blue mana. The rest of the game goes as expected, as I play the Blighted Agent and end the game 5 turns later.

Fucheng's a friendly guy, he and I talk for a bit after the match concludes. He's typically a R/G Lands player, but decided to run B/R reanimator for a larger tournament because of the possibility of mental fatigue. I'm whole-heartedly in agreement and explain that that's a huge reason why I'm on Infect.2-0, 8-2

R11 Patrick O. on U/R Delver
At 15th and 16th place, Patrick and I calculate that there's an outside shot for the winner to make top 8. We decide to play it out, and I'm immediately dismayed by the opening of T1 Volcanic Island into Delver of Secrets. The wizard flips, and the insect begins to slowly but surely chip away at my life total, bringing me closer and closer to being on the play game 2. Once I hit 10 life, he EoT chucks a Lightning Bolt at my face, ignoring the Blighted Agent on board. It's a clear sign that he has more burn in hand and is trying to end the game in quick fashion, so I Spell Pierce it which saves me 3 life. Patrick untaps, swings me down to 7, bolts me to 4, then casts a Price of Progress into my two Tropical Islands. I think I've staved off lethal for a turn by casting a Daze to save 2 points of damage, but he lets the Daze resolve and his last card in hand is a Fireblast for the last 4 points of damage.

At the final turn of game 2, I'm at 2 health with a single Blighted Agent and Patrick has a single Volcanic Island untapped with 2 Delvers and a Goblin Guide. I untap with 3 mana available and attempt to Invigorate the Blighted Agent, which is met with a Force of Will. I cast Vines kicked in response to the Force, and Patrick taps out to Flusterstorm with 2 copies on Invigorate and 2 copies of Vines. I have a Flusterstorm of my own though, and cast it for 5 copies with one on each of his Flusters and 1 one his Force of Will to seal the game.

Game 3 gets to an interesting state with Patrick firing off multiple cantrips and unable to find what he's looking for. We eventually come to a board state with Patrick swinging in for 2 per turn with a Goblin Guide and me chipping back with an Inkmoth Nexus for 1 per turn. Once he gets to 5 poison I have an Invigorate in hand to close out the game, but I'm hesitant to use it offensively as he's been sitting on two cards in hand and 4 open mana for a while now. I'm forced to pull the trigger when Goblin Guide gets me to 9 life and I have 4 nonbasics in play, which means one more swing and a Price of Progress does me in. I go for the lethal swing, cast Invigorate, and Patrick extends the hand, dropping the two cards he was holding to show a Rough//Tumble and Force of Will.

U/R Delver is one of Infect's toughest matchups, as the glut of removal spells coupled with a fast clock and counter magic can be really difficult to overcome. That said, shoutout to Patrick for a flawless game 1. Despite the loss, it was nail-bitingly close and easily the best game of Magic I played all weekend.2-1, 9-2

A win/loss record of 9 and 2 puts me at 11th place after 11 rounds of swiss. Though I missed top 8 on breakers, I can't be unhappy as this is to date my best large tournament finish. Plus I booked my return flight to depart during top 8, best not to miss that if I can help it.

Overall the deck choice felt pretty good, as I managed to dodge Grixis Control entirely and only played against Delver twice. Playing a fast and proactive deck is important at larger tournaments, and Infect feels favored against both Miracles and Eldrazi Post, which I feel along with Delver and Grixis Control are currently the four best decks in the meta. There's certainly truth to the legacy adage of 'playing what you're familiar with' as I only decided on Infect after I intially planned to bring U/W Delver, but ultimately went with ol' faithful as I wouldn't have a lot of time to prepare in the weeks beforehand.

While the archetype itself seems fine, I'm not at all satisfied with my current Infect list and sideboarding plan. The sideboard was just a hodge podge of cards I was testing for Eternal Weekend, and some of those came in just once throughout the entire tournament. Had I not 5-0'd the trial on Thursday, I likely would've spent more time optimizing a sideboard with more ways to combat fair decks and fewer tools to fight combo. I also anticipated a lot more Dredge than I ended up running into, which I'll be careful not to do in the future.

Shoutouts to Card Titan for hosting Eternal Weekend, Lone Star Lhurgoyfs for being awesome (was great to finally meet all the Austin guys), and to every one of my opponents throughout the entire weekend. Though I didn't mention it in the tournament recap, every single one of my opponent's was a class act and an absolute blast to play against. I have to say it's people like you that make the Magic experience so great, and it was really something special to play 3 straight days of Magic without running into a single bad apple. Stay cool, Eternal MtG community. Y'all are what make this game we play so special.
]]>Tournament ReportsJesturehttp://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?32796-11th-place-with-U-G-w-Infect-at-Eternal-Weekend-A-Tournament-Recap-by-JesturePainting in Atlanta: A Tale of Risk, Reward, and Redemptionhttp://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?32750-Painting-in-Atlanta-A-Tale-of-Risk-Reward-and-Redemption&goto=newpost
Mon, 22 Oct 2018 01:36:45 GMTYesterday I played at the quarterly event at Giga-Bytes in Marietta, GA. In events past Power was the prize and it attracted up to I think 90 or so...Yesterday I played at the quarterly event at Giga-Bytes in Marietta, GA. In events past Power was the prize and it attracted up to I think 90 or so was the peak. Unfortunately this event did not have power as a prize and only netted 39 players. I chose to play a deck I've been working towards building, Imperial Painter. Kapn Cook's awesome reports convinced me to try the deck out since it sounded pretty sweet. Obviously he is on Shortcake, but I also really like Blood Moon as a powerful card in the meta so I wanted to stay Mono Red. I also love Goblin Welder and wanted to play a deck with him in it.

A few notes on the list, I like Copter as a filtering option and win condition. Also blocks Delver well and loots for cool Welder shenanigans. I like going heavier on the prison plan by playing Ensnaring Bridge. I was watching Hoogland stream modern Mardu Pyromancer and he made a great point that if you're playing that deck with Moons and Bridges then the reason you are playing them is to lean on them as win conditions all on their own because of their power level. I kind of have taken that to heart with this deck.

I write out my decklist at home the night before because I hate doing it and spreading my deck out at the event in front of everyone. Probably a number of people know what I'm on anyway so I want that kept at a minimum. Get to the event around 10:30 and grab a Cigar City Cubano Espresso Brown Ale while we talk and Brendan sets up the stream.

Round 1: UW Delver Blade
Game 1 I mulligan to 6 and have a turn 1 Moon hand on the play. Unfortunately it's with a mountain, petal, and SSG. Oh well. I'm not playing this deck to not Moon people. I think he's on Miracles so I'm not even sure if the moon will be good, but you never know. It resolves. He plays fetches 2 turns in a row while I get a welder going. Unfortunately I don't get to resolve any artifacts and I stumble on a second land and he finds an island then a plains and Batterskull cleans it up when I can't find a third land to cast Bridge.
Game 2 I keep a 1 lander with Welder, Blast, Grindstone and just assume I'll draw more land. Unfortunately I don't have a land in the top 6 cards and I die to a second delver after I blast away the first one.

0-1

Round 2: Punishing Big Zoo
Game 1 I know what he is on or have an idea at least from watching games. I turn 1 a Moon assuming since he's on punishing he is probably lighter on basics. It resolves and he plays 4 mountains and I get CHandra Ultimate and he scoops em up.
Game 2 This one goes kind of long. I know I get a chandra down and it has to flame slash a Tireless Tracker before it gets out of hand. Unfortunately he PFires her and I draw 3 grindstones with nothing else really going on. I did Ballista away 2 Nobles but he had a basic to get around moon and Library draws him out of it.
Game 3 another long one. I believe I turn 1 nothing, turn 2 Abrade his Noble off basic forest. He plays a Grove and passes. I have a turn 3 moon. He then Green Sun's for Teeg to stop Chandra I guess. He also has found a plains. I have a painter and 2 grindstones but he has been keeping his white mana open so I suspect Plow and don't just go for it. I figure if he somehow gets a Pridemage I need to just go for it, but I draw a 6th land and activate Grindstone with 3 mana up and another stone on board in case he plows. He doesn't even have it he's bluffing and I win.

1-1

Round 3: UBr Tezzeret with Leyline Helm
Here's a link to the stream I was on Camera. Match starts around 1:59. Funny that the replay from the event before was one I commentated. https://www.twitch.tv/videos/325125074

A few thoughts. Game 1 I figure I had better inevitability for the combo and as long as I got welder going I didn't care about his chalices. Also Welding in and out his Mox Diamonds was pretty funny. Game 2 Moon seemed fine as long as he doesn't have a diamond.

2-1

Round 4: UW RIP/Helm/Energy Field Enlightened Tutor Control
Game 1 I think I made a quick moon, he was cut off white. He cast Energy field to stop my Thopter beats and then he played a back to basics to lock down my tomb and Furnace. I top deck Pyroblast like a champ and use my mountain to blast the B2B which hits the yard also getting rid of Field. I attack. He draws a plains and Detention Sphere's my Moon and fetches a Tundra which was puzzling. I'm now a bit nervous he may wrath me, luckily I top deck another Moon and play it out and he drops a plain and a Humility on me, luckily the 1/1's get there.
Game 2 I don't remember game 2 that well. I think I play painter into plow, ply second painter with blast back up and win a few turns later with a stone.

3-1
Cooking nicely after the round 1 loss.

Round 5: Lands
I'm pretty sure this is basically a win and draw in so I'm a bit nervous.
Game 1 I lead on Tomb into Painter. He goes Exploration into 2 lands. I play Recruiter and grab Magus of the Moon. Now at this point in the game I am looking at a hand of another mountain, a Magus, a pyroblast, an Ensnaring Bridge. My hand is probably close to unbeatable. He plays a diamond and a port and passes. Doesn't port which leads me to believe he has crop rotation so he needs the mana. I top deck City of Traitors. Now the correct line is either to play the mountain and play Magus, in response he would rotate for stage, I let him copy and blast the Stage with the trigger on the stack. Either that or simply cast a Bridge that he more than likely can't beat. Like the complete fucking Simian that I am, I play City of traitors, cast Magus of the Moon with Ancient Tomb up. He rotates and makes lage and I stare at my uncastable pyroblast wondering how quickly I can run to 75 and jump in front of a Semi.
Game 2 I make a quick moon and grindstone. I overload his KGrips by just putting combo pieces on the board and he never gets to actually kill the moon.
Game 3 I am on the draw and he gets a forest. I play Great Furnace and Pass. My hand isn't great. He plays Grove and Passes. I draw moon, play tomb and moon. He never casts a spell for some reason and I win a few turns later. Not sure what he kept his hand for, but it couldn't beat a moon. Maybe he had a PFire and figured he could answer Magus if I play it?

4-1

Round 6: Death and Taxes
Dr. Parente and I draw and I go commentate on the Goblins vs Lands match that is a win and in.

4-1-1

Top 8! Great run to get there after that round 1 loss.

Top 8: BR Reanimator
Woof. What a ruff pairing.
Game 1: He mulls to 6 and makes a turn 1 Griselbrand + Tidespout Tyrant. I draw a 4th Pyroblast with only 2 City of Traitors in hand as mana. I had an Ensnraing Bridge and figured it was my only real shot of winning on the draw.
Game 2 I keep a no lander with 3 Tormod's Crypt, Smuggler's Copter, Revoker, and something else. Fuck it. I probably should've mulled, but I figured the crypts would buy me a lot of time. Unfortunately He wear Teared one, I surgical Wear/Tear thinking maybe he can't answer the other 2 then. Unfortunately he has Abrade for one, and then forces me to use the last one and then he kills me. My bad for not knowing what BR would have to bring in out of the board.

Got $100 for my trouble which was cool. Overall I loved the deck. It was a blast to play and I'm hoping that this low turnout was an anomaly because I would hate that legacy dies locally right as I find a deck I can learn to play properly. Feel free to ask any questions and thanks for reading!
]]>Tournament ReportsMegadeushttp://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?32750-Painting-in-Atlanta-A-Tale-of-Risk-Reward-and-Redemption